16-CH AD recommendation

[quantum]

From these, I've only heard the Aurora 16 and Apogee AD16 (not X) and prefer the Aurora. Which 16-channel AD do you favor the most of these or others not in the list:

- Apogee AD16
- Apogee AD16X
- Benchmark ADC16
- Ferrofish A16 MK2
- Lynx Aurora 16
- Otari Radar 1
- Otari Radar 2
- iZ Radar 24
- iZ Radar V
- iZ Radar 6

[garyb]

if you just have money to spend, i might choose the Lynx or something like Lavry.

personally, i'm not as impressed with Apogee.

if you just want a great AD/DA, i'd go with the Ferrofish. the Ferrofish has basically the same chips for converting A-D and D-A as the boxes twice the price(and more), and similar specs, but it's a much better buy. as Juergen has proven with Scope cards and the XITEs, he's an excellent audio designer.

[quantum]

if you just have money to spend, i might choose the Lynx or something like Lavry.

personally, i'm not as impressed with Apogee.

if you just want a great AD/DA, i'd go with the Ferrofish. the Ferrofish has basically the same chips for converting A-D and D-A as the boxes twice the price(and more), and similar specs, but it's a much better buy. as Juergen has proven with Scope cards and the XITEs, he's an excellent audio designer.

Thanks Gary. I had the Lavry AD10, and it's terribly unmusical. The only good thing about it is true stereo attenuator. Heard the Blue and its only a little better. Also had the Rosetta 96khz which was almost the same quality as AD10 but warmer, and maybe not as wide. Also is a little sharper in the mid highs. The AD I am looking for would be used only with electronic synthesizers.

[dante]

Ferrofish sounds like the winner, still using AKM converters but a newer version (AK4620B) than the older A16. Also, Juegen improved the clock generation which leads to lower jitter and the ADAT signal is now with 5 x over-sampling. Doutful you'd get a better interface that can handle ADAT and MADI with the SMUX handling at anywhere near the price.

[quantum]

Ferrofish sounds like the winner, still using AKM converters but a newer version (AK4620B) than the older A16. Also, Juegen improved the clock generation which leads to lower jitter and the ADAT signal is now with 5 x over-sampling. Doutful you'd get a better interface that can handle ADAT and MADI with the SMUX handling at anywhere near the price.

Yea it seems like the best bang for the buck. I've heard the AKM converters in Waves L2 and they are very good, warm as well. They're probably very similar.

[siriusbliss]

Brand new Ferrofish owner here.
Very happy with the quality.

G

[Ricardo]

Good to know as I'm also in the market. What are you using yours for specifically?
My question is this. Is there almost $2000 difference between the Aurora and the Ferrofish? I've not heard either and where I live I'm not likely to. I don't really want to compromise, but I have read great things about the Ferrofish. For OTB summing and mixdown how does it perform? anyone? Also the auroras pop up on ebay fairly frequently, which isn't necessarily a positive sign.

[garyb]

the Aurora is not worth the extra money for most users, at least not for those who would feel the price difference. it's not even a matter of compromise. have you spent more than $20,000 on the room itself?

fwiw, Bose corporation just bought a couple more Ferrofish A16s. they use them for product development.

[Ricardo]

have you spent more than $20,000 on the room itself?

LOL. Fair comment, (and very good point) although my room is a work in progress. I am not sure where my audio work is heading, there are several options. If it gets to the point where the room is compromising the outcome then.....
But I feel more assured that the Ferrofish is a great unit and no doubt will buy one very soon.

Thanks Gary for the perspective.

Just found this:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct12/a ... a-mkii.htm
Great review

[garyb]

Juergen is really a genius. he designed Scope cards and the XITE and the original A16 hardware. i can't think of anyone i'd trust more to make a quality product.

[quantum]

While these samples are not the greatest, you can tell the sound of each converter. I'm still debating whether to get an older Midas Venice board or 2x 16ADs.



http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... 6-mk2.html



http://www.vinylaudio.net/index.php?topic=237.0

[Ricardo]

Great links. Thanks.

[quantum]

Ferrofish is close to Burl, just a little less 3D/live sounding. But this is due to the transformer in the Burl AD stage and most likely a better clock. So I do think that Ferrofish with a nice clock and a bit of EQ boost would put most other 16CH ADs to shame.

Lynx Aurora is an excellent converter, but the price should really be below $2000, like $1800 for 16 channels.

The Apogee stuff is a love or hate thing. They're very colored and a bit aggressive sounding, but this may just be the right thing for some genres.

Lavry blues are in the same league as Apogee but more neutral colored with a much flatter frequency response.

I don't know about Benchmark ADC16. It may be a better version of the Lynx sound.

The general rule is, the more expensive the AD/DA, the less you will have to EQ.

[Ricardo]

thanks for the info.
If Juergan designed the XITE and the Ferrofish, it seems a bit of a no brainer to me, especially as I could well use the $1700 dollars saved. The sound quality of the XITE is just awesome.